Has Day Trading Changed?

[Roberto Lopez]

Personally I think the markets are always changing, yet repeating themselves.

Back in 1998-200 people had a lot so success in day trading because they confused the biggest bull market in history with genius. They would buy a stock on the open and sell it on the close an think they knew what they were doing. The market almsot always closed at the high of the day, and people thought they were smart.

In China a year ago kids were dropping out of school and taking their tuition money and doing this. They would not tell their parents, and make a great deal of money. Once the economy showed signs of weakness the Chinese markets fell 30% fast and kids lost a fortune. Then they had to go home in shame and tell their parents they were idiots. Not because they day traded, but because they didn't know what they were doing. The markets closing higher from week to week fooled them into thinking they had things figured out.

Actually they could have made a fortune on the way down if they knew how to hedge, short the markets (which is tougher there), or just know when to walk away.

But in short....markets are always changing but history also repeats itself. learn to trade bull, bear and boring markets, or just don't day trade until the markets are good for going up every day for a while.

Just my humble opinion.
Roberto

 

[Handle123]

The problem is because HFTs exist, the spreads on things are terrible even on supposedly high volume stocks. So you'll be losing a huge spread plus that one cent if you are submitting market orders. Didn't used to be this way before HFTs came around. But HFT proponents love to talk about how much liquidity there is but it is complete bullsh*t.

I really liked it better when stocks traded in 1/16ths, matter of fact I had to go to ES when they went to pennies as bottom line wasn't as good and I didn't like getting filled all over the place.

 

[Roberto Lopez]

PS.
As for what Mignoette said...
I agree. If you can't be right with 100 SPX points room for error, you are not watching your position. BUT....
We have days like Aug 24 of last year where the SPX moved down OVERNIGHT more than $100 points. The broker almsot anyone uses would have liquidated (margin call) your position at the dead bottom. That SUCKS as it was the dead bottom and from there we paired half of those 100 points 20 mins later. But you would have been forced out of the trade, maybe without even knowing it.

This is why I like to augment my trade with a CHEAP option position that hedged me in a disaster, but will not cost me more than a 1 day profit if I am right on my position.

But this is just me.

 

[wrbtrader]

There are no at home day traders who earn a living trading stocks any longer. They simply do not exist.

Timothy Sykes and his profitable broker statements was posted here at ET by a guy name marketsufer.

There are even Youtube videos of Sykes doing profitable stock trades (live trades...not hindsight) out of a hotel or vacation spot.

Oooops, maybe he doesn't qualify because he trades penny stocks ???

 

[wrbtrader]

I really liked it better when stocks traded in 1/16ths, matter of fact I had to go to ES when they went to pennies as bottom line wasn't as good and I didn't like getting filled all over the place.

Several of ET most popular members that posted brokerage statements and highly profitable...

They openly discussed how the decimalization was going to end their trading careers. Yet, I always wonder why they didn't just move to futures instead of calling it quits. They just seem like the type of traders that would just adapt and move on.

In my opinion, I saw a big shift in the forum itself because of such and then that was followed by another big shift in the forum after the 2008 - 2009 financial collapse.

 

[mignonette]

marketsurfer,

Please read carefully. I did give the source of my stats in comparison to my own stats...Nanax and Stocks & Commodities. Also, there are several research articles too but I always consider them to be a little bias depending upon how the research was done.

Simply, you can contact Nanax or purchase the all the historical SC magazines since its birth and compare their liquidity data. The data is accurate.

In other words, the stats show reasons why day trading has become tougher in comparison to when day trader was popularized in the 1990s.

Yeah, FX markets is growing...stats on that too and easily info on Google about that fact too. The only arguable fact is the reason...some say its HFT. I say it really doesn't matter.

Lastly, only marketsurfer reading skills are intentionally poor that allows us to easily identify you. Enjoy your brief stay at the forum and hopefully you'll soon get psychological help. Not an attack but you really do need some sort of intervention.

Please provide direct links to this research. Otherwise it must be assumed u are making it up to further an agenda.

 

[mignonette]

Timothy Sykes and his profitable broker statements was posted here at ET by a guy name marketsufer.

There are even Youtube videos of Sykes doing profitable stock trades (live trades...not hindsight) out of a hotel or vacation spot.

Oooops, maybe he doesn't qualify because he trades penny stocks ???

Correct. Known manipulated stocks are far different than stocks trading in a real market.

You know this, but its does not fit your agenda.

 

[mignonette]

Brokers are at total risk if you go belly up on some trade and don't have the funds to wire it in.

That's not true. Its the brokers internal risk control, not your margin amount that cause risk to the broker. How does losing $500 plus fees on a $1000 account trading one emini cause anymore risk to the broker than 2800$ margins and the trader losing 2800$?

 

[wrbtrader]

Correct. Known manipulated stocks are far different than stocks trading in a real market.

You know this, but its does not fit your agenda.

Wow, I didn't know penny stocks weren't real. Yet, at least you admit there is a profitable at home day trader of "stocks" but you now imply its not stocks trading in the "real market".

surf, whatever.

You changed since the baby was born. Maybe your psychological problems are due to lack of sleep ? If so, no big deal and don't worry about it. Its a normal thing to experience in the wonderful world of fatherhood but its something you should talk to your spouse about...changes in your mental health.

Please provide direct links to this research. Otherwise it must be assumed u are making it up to further an agenda.

Go to google and type "Nanex". Next, go to their website and contact them about how you can access their data about liquidity. Next, go back to google and type "Stocks & Commodities Magazine". Next, go to their website and contact them about how to gain access to all their past monthly magazines since the beginning or ask them how you can gain access to the data source of their liquidity data of the world's most liquid markets.

 

[Handle123]

Were you around for 911?

Since you big on providing proof of what happened when exchanges re-opened week later and if you were long 10 ES contracts on $10,000 account, you want to see how much you have to go to the bank for loans? Google it to read what happened...